Conventional electronic device manufacturing systems may include multiple process chambers and one or more load lock chambers surrounding a transfer chamber. These systems may employ a transfer robot housed within the transfer chamber that is adapted to transport substrates between the various process chambers and one or more load lock chambers.
In order to add additional process capability within a particular tool, in other embodiments, two mainframe sections may be linked together and substrates may be passed through between the two mainframe sections by one or more pass-through chambers. The two mainframe sections may be operated at two different vacuum levels in some embodiments. A factory interface may be provided and operate to load substrates into and out of the one or more load lock chambers.
However, in some instances, the additional processing that is added by the addition of a second mainframe section may still be insufficient for the processing desired on the substrate at a specific tool. Enlarging the size of the mainframe sections is at the expense of added floor space requirements, which may not always be available. Moreover, enlarging the size of the mainframe may require a complete redesign of the mainframe body and even the transfer robot. Accordingly, improved processing systems, apparatus, and methods enabling higher throughput and processing capacity are desired.